Kathleen Savio

He was sentenced Friday for trying to hire a fellow inmate to kill a prosecutor

(Newser) -
Former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson was given an additional 40 years in prison Friday for trying to hire someone to kill the prosecutor who put him behind bars for killing his third wife, the AP reports. During his sentencing hearing, Peterson told Judge Richard Brown he never wanted...
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'I did not kill Kathleen,' he yells in court

(Newser) -
Drew Peterson—the swaggering former suburban Chicago police officer who gained notoriety after his much-younger fourth wife vanished in 2007—was sentenced to 38 years in prison today for murdering his third wife. The sentence came moments after Peterson shocked the courtroom as he proclaimed his innocence in the death...
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Ex-cop killed Kathleen Savio: jury

(Newser) -
After five years of headlines, the Drew Peterson murder case has come to a verdict: The former Chicago-area police officer is guilty of killing Kathleen Savio, his third wife, the jury says. His maximum sentence would be 60 years. It's a victory for a prosecution that based its arguments...
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He said he could make her death look like an accident: witness

(Newser) -
Former suburban Chicago cop Drew Peterson once choked his wife, and then asked her: "Why don't you just die?" a friend of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, testified yesterday. Peterson is on trial for allegedly killing Savio and trying to make it look like an accidental drowning in...
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Former Chicago cop accused of killing his wife

(Newser) -
The murder trial of former suburban Chicago police sergeant Drew Peterson began today with dueling explanations of his third wife's death. Prosecutors gave jurors an account that could have come from a 1940s pulp novel, in which a man does whatever he must— including murder—to keep his ex-wife'...
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3-year wait ends as 'very unusual' case begins today

(Newser) -
A pool of 200 potential jurors has waited three years for the Drew Peterson murder trial to begin; today, jury selection will finally begin in what's set to be a rather unorthodox case. Those selected to hear the case will listen to what is, in effect, posthumous testimony based...
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Ex-cop allegedly forced fourth wife to lie for him, says pastor

(Newser) -
Bad news for Drew Peterson ahead of his murder trial: A pastor will be allowed to testify that Peterson forced his fourth wife to provide a fake alibi for him the night his third wife was killed, the Chicago Tribune reports. The pastor says Stacy Peterson told him Drew was...
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Hearsay evidence allowed in Drew Peterson murder hearing

(Newser) -
Drew Peterson, the Illinois cop accused of killing one of his wives and suspected in the disappearance of another, gets to hear from his dead third wife today in an evidentiary hearing, reports the AP . An Illinois judge will be evaluating hearsay evidence from the wife he is accused of...
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Bruises show struggle; coroner had called death accidental

(Newser) -
Drew Peterson’s third wife was killed, a new autopsy says, countering the original coroner’s report that concluded Kathleen Savio’s death was an accident, CNN reports. Bruises point to a struggle in the new autopsy by a top forensic pathologist. Peterson, a former Illinois cop, has been charged...
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(Newser) -
Drew Peterson attempted to pay someone $25,000 to kill his third wife in 2003, a year before she was found drowned in her bathtub, prosecutors alleged today. The disgraced former cop, who has been charged with murdering Kathleen Savio himself, tried and failed today to have his $20 million...
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Focus on murder suspect's wife, another missing woman

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Drew Peterson’s infamously bad luck might have just gotten worse: Authorities uncovered a decomposing woman’s body and a mysterious blue barrel near his Illinois home yesterday. If the woman turns to be his fourth wife, Stacy, it could undermine his claim she fled with another man. But the...
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(Newser) -
A defense attorney entered a not-guilty plea today for former Illinois police officer Drew Peterson in the 2004 death of his third wife. Peterson stood silently in court, wearing a blue jail jumpsuit and shackles. He's been in custody since May 7, when he was arrested near his Bolingbrook home...
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Ex-cop risked losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in split

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Drew Peterson prosecutors are scrutinizing his divorce from Kathleen Savio as they ready their murder case against him, the Chicago Tribune reports. Peterson could have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the pair’s split—but Savio was found dead in a bathtub one month before the trial that...
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Statement from eldest son says children support father

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Drew Peterson’s adult son says he and his four siblings know their dad’s innocent of murder, the Chicago Tribune reports. “All of the children of Drew Peterson fully support their father and know that he is innocent of the charges against him,” Stephen Peterson said today...
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Prosecution counting on 'beyond the grave' testimony from victim

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The murder case against Drew Peterson is likely to hinge on circumstantial evidence and hearsay testimony, the Chicago Tribune reports. Prosecutors will be relying on a new statute that some are calling “Drew’s Law,” which will allow victim Kathleen Savio to “testify from beyond the grave,...
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Ex-cop smirks as arraignment on murder charge delayed

(Newser) -
Drew Peterson smirked and wisecracked his way through a court hearing yesterday, the Chicago Tribune reports. "Look at this bling. Look at this nice spiffy outfit. Three squares a day," the shackled ex-cop cracked on his way into court, where he was told his arraignment on murder charges...
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(Newser) -
Police have arrested Drew Peterson in connection with the murder of his third wife, the Chicago Tribune reports. The death of Kathleen Savio, 40, who was found drowned in a bathtub in 2004, was initially ruled an accident, but police reopened the case when Peterson's fourth wife went missing. She...
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Lawyer who won OJ civil suit files before grand jury expires

(Newser) -
Sick of waiting for a grand jury to act, Kathleen Savio’s family has filed a wrongful death suit against husband Drew Peterson, the Chicago Tribune reports. The grand jury, which expires next month, has been investigating the death of Savio, Peterson’s third wife, and the disappearance of fourth...
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Murder suspect says he understands fears of fiancée's family

(Newser) -
Drew Peterson, divorced from wives No. 1 and 2 and suspected of killing wives No. 3 and 4, understands why the family of would-be wife No. 5 is none too pleased with their engagement, ABC reports. “I would have concerns if I were the friends and family of this...
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